


Never Too Late to Learn

by accordingtomel



Category: Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza RPF, Whose Line Is It Anyway? RPF
Genre: Fluff, Ice Skating, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 08:56:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10636557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/accordingtomel/pseuds/accordingtomel
Summary: This was based on the following prompt: Greg, Ry, Jeff and Chip are in New York in winter to do a Whose Live show. A stir crazy Jeff convinces everyone to get out of the hotel, and they stumble across an ice rink. Greg and Ryan scoff a lot, but Jeff's quite persuasive and they all begrudgingly agree to go skating. Anyway, Chip sucks at it and falls down a lot and Jeff winds up having to teach him how to ice skate. Cue lots of touching and grabbing.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The amount of fluff in this is almost embarrassing. But, what can you do? Anyway, this was originally posted on my LJ in July of 2011.
> 
>  **Original A/N:** This was written for the Whose-a-Thon challenge over at [wl_fanfiction](http://wl-fanfiction.livejournal.com/). So, hopefully I managed to do what the prompter was requesting. This is basically 4.5k of pure fluff, so be warned that it may rot your teeth. I had great fun writing it, though :). Thanks as always to my ever awesome beta and friend, adelagia for her help with this. You’re the best!

“Oh my God, I don’t think I can take this anymore,” Jeff mutters, scrubbing a hand down his face.

“I know I’m not as exciting as you, but if you didn’t want to hang out with me, you could’ve just said so,” Chip says, smirking at Jeff from the other side of the table they’re currently occupying.

They’re currently on the last stretch of their _Whose Live Anyway?_ tour, and while Jeff loves his job and the fact that he gets to go on stage every night and perform with some of his best friends, the last leg of the tour is usually the most challenging. Not because they’re tired of the work – Jeff doesn’t ever think he could tire of doing this – but because of the weather. It’s cold and snowy and between the weather and traveling across the country, they barely get to see the outdoors, and Jeff loves the outdoors.

They’re in New York for the next two days, but aside from walking to and from the plane, hotel or their rental car, he’s fairly certain that none of them have really set foot outside for a good four or five days now, and the effects are starting to become obvious. Everyone is just a bit more on edge, a bit more snarky, a bit less patient. At this rate, it’s only a matter of time until they start taking digs at each other, which can only cause trouble in the long run. No one wants to watch an improv show where all the comedians are angry with one another. Besides that, they’re in _New York_ , and Jeff is going completely stir-crazy.

Jeff smiles. “You know that’s not what I meant. I’m just going crazy. I’m sick and tired of being indoors. Let’s get out of here for a while, go outside, get some fresh air.”

“Now? It’s getting late, isn’t it? I thought it was snowing earlier too?” Chip’s nose scrunches up for the briefest of moments.

Well, this isn’t looking too promising.

A beat passes, and then Jeff says, “Chip? Are you just going to let me wander around by myself at night in New York? What if I get mugged, or lost, or kidnapped and sold to slave traders? Or worse – what if I get lost after being mugged, and I’m kidnapped by a group of slave-traders who sell me to a man with a daughter named Bertha that they force me to marry, and I’m stuck there until I’m old and fat and my hair grows down to my waist because they won’t let me cut or style it? Do you think you could live with that, knowing you had the power to save me but chose to ignore it?” Of anyone, he figures he has the best chance of convincing Chip to come out with him, even if he needs to use guilt and a touch of manipulation to do so (which Jeff is not above doing when the situation warrants it).

For several seconds Chip just stares at Jeff blankly before he bursts out laughing, his whole body shaking with his cackles. “You’re completely ridiculous, you know that?” he says, once he finally catches his breath.

Tilting his head to the side, Jeff shoots Chip the most innocent and charming grin he can muster. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“If you want to go for a walk outside, then we can go. You really didn’t need to resort to such obvious strategies.”

“Yeah, but you weren’t exactly keen on the suggestion.”

“Well, maybe not. But I didn’t say ‘no’ either, now did I?” Chip points out.

Jeff nods, and stands. That’s enough for him. “Great! Let’s go find Ryan and Greg too.”

Fishing through his wallet, he pulls out enough to cover both his and Chip’s drinks, then scans the room for his friends. It only takes a moment to spot Ryan. His height is a serious advantage to finding him in a crowd. Greg appears to be with him, and as Jeff and Chip near, it seems as though they’re talking to a couple of fans. They wait off to the side until Ryan and Greg are finished, before approaching them.

“Hey guys,” Jeff says. “So, Chip and I were thinking of going out for a walk. You wanna join us?”

“But it’s snowing,” Ryan says, pointing randomly away from himself.

“And it’s cold,” Greg adds.

Jeff shrugs. “So? It’s mostly stopped. Do you honestly want to spend the rest of the evening cooped up in here? We’re this close to going insane!”

“Speak for yourself, Jefferson,” Greg chirps, which sends a round of giggles through the rest of the group.

“Oh, come on. We spend all night, every night indoors drinking. I’m seriously going stir-crazy here. Just come for a short walk with me? I’m positive you’ll be glad you did.”

“I’m also positive that I’ll have just as much – if not _more_ fun – staying here and having a few more drinks,” Ryan says, grinning.

“How often do you get to experience New York?” Jeff asks, feeling a tad desperate now, and then gestures towards Chip. “He’s going to come too.”

Greg’s eyes light up in mock excitement, and the next thing Jeff knows, he’s flailing and squealing exaggeratedly. “Oh my God, well if Chip’s going then count me in,” he declares dramatically, which causes everyone to laugh.

“You should have said so earlier,” Ryan adds as he grabs onto Greg’s arm. “Let’s go! Hurry, Greg! _Chip_ ’s going to be on this walk too.”

Jeff rolls his eyes at their antics, but inwardly he knows that joking or not, he’s still managed to snag them.

“Great! This will be fun, I promise,” he says as they make their way up to their hotel rooms to grab jackets, gloves and hats.

~*~

All right, so maybe ‘fun’ isn’t quite the correct word to use.

It is windy and colder than Jeff anticipates, and he spends most of the first fifteen minutes listening to Greg and Ryan whine about the cold and _why the hell did we allow Jeff to drag us out in the first place?_ and _do you think if we ran we could make it back to the hotel before our hands fall off?_ Granted, it’s chilly, and this isn’t exactly the best night for a leisurely stroll, but Jeff will be damned if he’s going to spend another minute cooped up in a hotel. This is exactly what everyone needs right now.

A flash of movement off in the distance catches Jeff’s attention and he is pleasantly surprised at what he sees in a park down the street. Perhaps this is exactly the thing they need to turn this evening around.

“Look at that. There’s a skating rink,” Jeff says, pointing with a gloved hand in the direction of the rink. “Why don’t we go there?”

Ryan scoffs. “What are we, _ten_?”

“No. What are you, a crotchety old man who’s afraid of having a little fun?”

This elicits a low chuckle from Greg. “Harsh burn, man. Though Ryan does have a point. Skating isn’t exactly my idea of a good time right now. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s fucking freezing out here.”

“No, I had no idea. It’s not like you’ve been bringing that fact up _every five seconds_ or anything,” Jeff says, and actively has to hold back an eye roll. Honestly. For supposed non-crotchety old men, they sure as hell act like it sometimes.

“We should just go back to the hotel and continue to get drunk, like we were doing before you came up with this brilliant idea,” Ryan says, sounding for the world like he believes he’s just come up with the cure for all modern illnesses.

“Oh, come on, guys,” Jeff interjects, before either of them have a chance to run with this. Jeff is a huge fan of alcohol, and in fact, probably loves it more than the average person, but this is one time where he actually thinks there are better things they could be doing. “It’ll be _fun_. All we ever do is drink. Let’s try something new and different for a change. How often do you get to go ice skating these days?”

“I suppose you have a point,” Greg says eventually.

“Yeah, but it’s cold. I’m freezing my ass off, here,” Ryan says. “And I have a nice ass that my wife happens to enjoy quite a lot.” Jeff has to bite back a smirk.

Greg claps a hand down on Ryan’s shoulder. “Also a valid point, my friend. Especially the part about your ass. It is mighty fine.”

This whole excursion is looking more and more grim as every moment passes, so Jeff decides that he needs some reinforcement again, someone to back him up. Thankfully, he knows he has someone that can always be counted on. Turning, he smiles hopefully over at Chip, who’s been uncharacteristically silent throughout this whole exchange thus far.

“What do _you_ think, Chip?”

There is silence. “Yeah, we can go skating,” he says eventually, though there is a distinct air of hesitance in his voice.

Jeff frowns. That isn’t quite the enthusiastic response he was hoping for. “You don’t want to go?”

“No, I do. It’s not that bad out. But, uh, there’s something you should probably know first.”

“Which is?”

“I’ve never skated before.”

Jeff finds that hard to believe. “Not even once? I doubt that.”

“I’m serious,” Chip insists, holding up both hands.

“How is that even possible?” Greg wonders.

“Yeah. I mean, you’ve never taken your kids out at all? That was like all mine wanted to do when they were younger,” Ryan says.

“They’ve never really expressed much interest in it, and the couple of times they have gone, it’s been with Patty or through school trips.”

“That’s completely fucked up,” Greg says.

Chip holds up both hands. “Hey, everyone has things they’ve never done before. This just happens to be mine.”

“So that settles it, then,” Jeff cuts in, deciding he can use this to his advantage. “Chip’s never been skating before, and this is his perfect opportunity to do so. We’d be idiots to pass this up. Let’s do this.”

This time, everyone agrees.

~*~

“How’s that?” Chip asks, gesturing down to his skates.

Jeff glances over. “Move your foot side to side for me?” Chip obeys. “No, that’s still too loose.”

“Well, then how damn tight is it supposed to be?” he asks, frowning at his skates in a way that can only be described as adorable. Or at least in Jeff’s head.

Getting up off the bench, Jeff moves to kneel down in front of Chip.

“Uh, what are you doing?”

“Be quiet. I’m going to fix your skates for you, since you’ve never tied the laces before. It’s not like shoes,” Jeff informs him, pulling one foot forward.

Jeff works quietly, but swiftly, untying and then tightening the laces on both skates. There is an odd sort of intimacy in this act, Jeff realizes, from being on his knees in front of Chip, to touching his feet and ankles, all the while having Chip’s eyes follow his every move. Thankfully, the skating rink is almost abandoned this evening; it’s the type of thing that could potentially draw attention.

When Jeff is finished, he places a hand on Chip’s left knee, which draws his full attention immediately. “You feel how tight that is? That’s how it should feel when you’ve done it right. You don’t want any wiggle room in your ankle. Make sense?”

Chip smiles. “Yeah, I think so. Thank you, Jeff.”

Unfortunately, this happens to be the moment when Ryan decides to make his presence known again. “Aww, isn’t that cute,” he coos, grinning over at them.

“You’re just jealous that you didn’t get that kind of service,” Greg quips, and everyone laughs. There is no mistaking the sexual innuendo loaded into the comment, but Jeff isn’t about to get into any of that right now.

Ignoring them, Jeff pushes up off the ground, using Chip’s knee for support, and turns to face Ryan and Greg. “So, are we ready to go?”

Greg nods. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Chip says.

They make their way down to the skating rink in a single file line, Ryan leading, followed by Greg, Jeff and then Chip. The wind seems to have died down a little, but it is still a chilly evening. Every few seconds, Jeff tosses a glance back over his shoulder, just to make sure that Chip hasn’t fallen over on his skates. Thankfully, he manages to make it all the way down the path without any injuries. So far, so good.

Jeff follows Greg and Ryan onto the ice, skating a couple of feet away from the entrance, when he hears Chip call his name.

“Uh, Jeff?”

Turning, Jeff can’t quite help but smile at the sight that meets his eyes. Chip, still standing in the exact same spot he’d been left, is grasping the railing with a two-handed, white-knuckled grip. (Or, well, what Jeff assumes would be white-knuckled under his gloves.)

“You okay, there, buddy?” Jeff asks, skating back towards his friend. If the skates hadn’t tipped him off already, this reaction seems to indicate that it’s possible Chip truly _hasn’t_ ever skated before.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just great.”

“Then why do you look mildly petrified?” Jeff asks with a smirk.

Chips eyes narrow. “Because I’m pretty sure I’m going to fall flat on my ass the minute I skate out onto the ice.”

“Hey, what’s going on?” Ryan calls out from several yards away.

Jeff looks back at them and waves a hand. “Don’t worry about it. Chip’s having beginner’s nerves. You guys go on ahead. We’ll catch up with you in a bit.”

Greg and Ryan share a glance. “All right, good luck. See you later,” Greg says with a shrug as he and Ryan skate off.

Returning his attention to Chip, Jeff steps off the ice and back up onto the rubber pathway. Chip remains frozen in place. “Are you really that worried about falling?”

“I wouldn’t be standing here still if I wasn’t,” Chip replies, ducking his head sheepishly.

“Look, the hardest part is getting onto the ice. I’m sure once you’ve managed that, you’ll be fine. It’s easier than it looks. Come on.”

Jeff steps back onto the rink. Chip just stares at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

“Do you want some help?” he asks, offering an arm to Chip.

A few seconds pass, and then he’s reaching for Jeff, one hand at a time. With the support being provided to him, Chip is able to take one step, then another onto the ice.

“See? There you go! No problem at all,” Jeff jokes. Skating very slowly backwards, Jeff pulls Chip a few feet away from the entrance.

Chip smiles somewhat uncertainly, swaying on his feet, but there is no mistaking the determined expression on his face. “Yeah, just wait until you let go. Then you’ll see what happens.”

Jeff scoffs. “You can’t honestly be as bad as you think you are. Look, just do what I’m doing.”

He gently releases Chip’s hands and skates forward a few yards before turning to face Chip once more. The whole thing feels oddly reminiscent of the time Jeff tried to help his niece learn how to walk. Except slightly more bizarre, considering they’re both fully grown men.

“Okay, so skate towards me. One foot, then the other, nice and slow,” Jeff commands, gesturing for Chip to come forward.

“I’m seriously gonna fall, Jeff.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Trust me, I am.”

“Just come on. We haven’t got all night here.” Jeff’s brows rise up high on his forehead, and he holds out both arms in mock challenge.

Chip rolls his eyes and huffs. Then, like a small child, his arms shoot out on either side of his body as if to balance himself, and Jeff tries not to giggle at how ridiculous he looks.

“Good. Now you just have to move your feet,” Jeff teases.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Not at all.” Chips eyes narrow into tiny slits. “Well, maybe a _little_ ,” Jeff amends.

And then, finally, Chip pushes forward on two shaky legs, lips pressed together in what can only be described as fierce determination. In an odd sort of way, he looks kind of similar to a penguin with its arms out, wobbling side to side as he slowly tries to skate towards Jeff.

Everything is going fine for about five seconds before it all falls apart. Stumbling on something on the ice – or quite possibly nothing at all – Chip goes from being mostly upright to lurching forward. Jeff rushes over in an attempt to abort the fall, but he gets there a moment too late, and suddenly, unexpectedly, they’re both crashing to the ice with a loud thud.

“Ow,” Chip groans, as his chin makes contact with Jeff’s shoulder. It takes several moments for them to process what’s happened, and then a few more to disentangle their limbs. Surprisingly, the fall wasn’t as damaging as it likely appeared, though Jeff’s still having a hard time processing the fact that Chip Esten really is the worst skater he’s ever met.

“Wow, you really _haven’t_ ever skated before, have you?” Jeff asks as he rolls onto his back and tries to rein in the laughter that’s threatening to bubble forth all of a sudden.

“Were you not listening to me before when I told you that?” Chip pushes up into a seated position, rubbing his jaw.

“I was. I just assumed you were exaggerating,” Jeff says, and this time he does permit himself to laugh, briefly, before sitting up and looking over at Chip, who looks pained. “Are you okay, man?”

Instinctively, Jeff reaches out to touch Chip’s face, just to make sure for himself that everything is fine. He runs his fingers down the line of Chip’s jaw, but it isn’t until he feels Chip still, feels the slight hitch of his breath, that it occurs to Jeff just what, exactly, he’s doing. They are in a public place, sitting on ice, with barely a foot of space between them, as Jeff strokes Chip’s face.

His fingers still on Chip’s jaw, but he doesn’t immediately pull them away. Without thinking, Jeff’s eyes drop briefly to Chip’s lips, pink and slightly chapped from the cold, and he swallows as something hot twists in his stomach. Chip’s gaze is piercing, blue eyes wide and intense, and Jeff thinks that it would be so easy to just lean in, close the gap between them, finally taste Chip—

And then, suddenly, reality rushes over him like a wave, and Jeff remembers where the hell they are, that Chip is married, that they can’t just start making out in the middle of a skating rink in New York. He yanks his hand away from Chip’s face so fast that it might as well have been on fire, but it effectively ends whatever spell they’d just fallen under.

Silence follows for several moments, and then Chip nods and gives Jeff a small, if not slightly awkward, smile. “Yeah, um, I’m fine. Or, at least I think so. You’ve got bony shoulders, though.”

“I hear that a lot,” Jeff teases, and reaches up to scratch the back of his neck before finally getting back onto his feet.

Chip manages to get onto his hands and knees without toppling over, but without anything to hold onto for support, it’s clear that he’s not going anywhere any time soon.

“Need some help?” Jeff offers, holding out a hand.

Chip glances up at him, lips pursed in a child-like pout. That, combined with his rosy cheeks and red nose from the cold, makes him look absolutely endearing, and Jeff is struck with the desire to wrap Chip in his arms and protect him from the big, bad skating rink.

“Gladly,” Chip replies, reaching for the proffered limb.

He grabs onto Jeff’s arm with both hands, and after no small amount of struggling, manages to haul himself up off the ice. This time, though, Jeff slips his left arm under Chip’s right, and pulls him in close, trapping Chip’s arm between their bodies and wrapping his hand around Chip’s wrist.

“Clearly you can’t be left alone just yet,” Jeff decides and is met with a friendly glare from Chip.

“Yeah, yeah… laugh it up.”

“So, let me just get this straight, just so I can make sure I understand this correctly,” Jeff says, shooting Chip a playful smirk. “You, Charles Esten, can sing, dance, act, do improvisational comedy, play the guitar, run marathons, and basically bench-press me up like I weigh as much as a balloon, but you can’t _ice skate_? How the hell is that even possible?”

Chip shrugs, shoulder brushing against Jeff’s. “Look, my parents couldn’t afford to pay for hockey equipment for me, and I never really had any interest anyway, so I just never learned. My kids aren’t in hockey either, so I’ve just never had any good reason to pursue it.”

“That, my friend, is what the kids these days would say is ‘bunk.’”

A hearty laugh fills the air around them. “I’m pretty sure the kids don’t say that, Jeff.”

“And what kids do you know, old man?” Jeff asks. “Other than your own. But I seriously doubt any of them would say something that lame. Now, come on. I can’t hold onto you like you’re a small child the whole time we’re on the rink. Let’s at least try skating again.”

~*~

Things seem to be looking up for Chip with every passing minute, despite nearly falling twice more almost immediately after the first fall. Unsurprisingly, he’s a quick learner, and soon enough, they both deem it safe enough for Jeff to remove his physical support, even if he sort of wishes they didn’t have to separate.

“Look at you. Should have known you’d be a quick study,” Jeff says, voice swelling with pride, even though it seems silly.

“Yeah, well, just because I can now skate very slowly in a straight line doesn’t mean that I’ve mastered it,” Chip says, grinning.

“Fair enough. But you’re doing far better than you were twenty minutes ago, that’s for damn sure,” Jeff points out.

Even still, every other minute, Chip reaches out to grab Jeff’s arm, or skates into his shoulder, and so they’re still glued to each other’s sides for the most part, which is more than fine with Jeff.

After circling past them multiple times, Ryan and Greg eventually decide to join up with them again, apparently thoroughly amused by Chip’s lack of skills. But with vastly improved moods, no one particularly cares, and they continue to joke and laugh as they skate together. Jeff is just thankful that he managed to convince everyone to do this in the first place.

~*~

Half an hour later, they’ve finally decided to call it quits for the night. On the walk back to the hotel, they come across a little coffee shop that’s still open, and decide to stop in for some post-skating hot chocolate.

“So, how was your first ice skating experience?” Ryan asks Chip, once they’ve been seated and have ordered their drinks.

“Well, I got off to a bit of a rocky start, but it was definitely an enjoyable experience,” he says, tossing a side-long glance at Jeff.

“Don’t you think ‘rocky’ is a bit of an understatement, there, Chip?” Jeff asks, poking him in the side.

Chip laughs and squirms out of his touch. “All right, fine. So it was a disastrous start. What can I say? I took a swan-dive into your shoulder after I tripped on my own feet. I’m not as elegant as I appear.”

“For what it’s worth, I thought it was kind of endearing, actually,” Jeff says, smiling fondly over at Chip. It occurs to him that he probably shouldn’t be saying things like that out loud, but strangely, he doesn’t regret it.

“Now you’re just mocking me,” Chip pouts, but Jeff can see him smirking into his mug.

“I would never do such a thing,” he says, raising a hand in pledge.

Chip reaches out and grabs Jeff’s hand, pulling it back down to the table. “Oh, please. I’m never gonna hear the end of this from you, and you damn well know it.”

Jeff tilts his head to the side, touching his chin thoughtfully. “Yeah, well maybe. But only because I can’t believe you’ve never skated before. I mean, you’re fucking amazing at pretty much everything else in the world, so it’s shocking to find something you’re really _not_ already an expert at.”

If it’s possible for somebody’s face to _actually_ light up like a Christmas tree, then Chip is the shining example. “Wait, did you just call me amazing?” He’s practically beaming now, and it causes warmth to unfurl unexpectedly in Jeff’s stomach, not unlike what happened earlier on in the evening.

“You’re just hearing things.”

“No, I’m pretty sure I distinctly heard you say that I was amazing.”

“God, get a room you two,” Greg says, interrupting the moment. “Your blatant flirting has been going on all evening and it’s going to make me hurl if you don’t stop immediately.”

Ryan laughs, clearly amused, and raises his cup in a toast. “Amen to that, my friend.”

Chip coughs, still grinning, but conveniently returns his attention back to his hot chocolate. Jeff feels his face heat, and is thankful that they just emerged from the cold outdoors. Briefly his mind flashes back to their little moment on the ice, and he wonders if Ryan and Greg bore witness to it. Still, Jeff refuses to let them get the last laugh. (He also refuses to acknowledge the flirting comment, because he’s not sure he wants to subject either of them to the evidence Greg will no doubt provide, if provoked.)

“Yeah, right. You both would be watching with popcorn in the front row if we ever did, and don’t even try to deny it,” Jeff accuses, pointing at them both, a cocky grin plastered onto his face.

Snorting, Greg nearly chokes on his drink. “Ha, you wish.”

“You know what? I think _you_ just wish you all had a skating coach as awesome as me.”

“If that’s what you need to tell yourself to sleep at night, then be my guest,” Greg says, and everyone laughs.

“But you have to admit, you had fun, right?” Jeff coaxes.

There is a lot of exaggerated grumbling, but all three eventually confess to agreeing with Jeff.

From under the table, a hand lands on his knee, squeezing gently, and Jeff turns to face Chip.

“Thanks for being patient with me,” he says, smiling warmly, and a feeling of contentment washes over Jeff.

He swallows, then nods, grin wide and openly affectionate. “You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.”

Chip has no idea how much truth is in that statement. But then again, maybe he does.


End file.
